Solar Section        

 
 

January 16, 2021

Brief Summary of CR 2238

By Kim Hay
ALPO Solar Assistant Coordinator

CR2238 started on 2020-11-28 at 14:44 UT (Julian Date 2459182.11500 or Year 2020.91339) and ended some 27 days later on 2020-12-25 at 22:30 UT. This cycle saw a total of 13 Active Region (AR) sunspot groups AR2783 through AR2795.

Carrington Sunspot Data for CR2238
Data from SILSO

Carrington Rotation 2238 continued with high activity from AR2783 and AR2785-86 which originated with the prior rotation. By November 29th a new group in the Northern Hemisphere, AR2787, showed up. This was the only Northern Hemisphere group for the CR2238 cycle. It has been noted by Solar physicists that the two hemispheres are not always in sync. Images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on December 4th demonstrated this imbalance, especially in the H-alpha light. It could take up to two years for the Northern Hemisphere to catch up, but this is just part of a normal Sunspot Cycle.
Also on November 29th, the far side of the Sun produced the largest Solar flare seen in three years with an M4.4 flare, producing a shortwave radio blackout over the Antarctic. The group responsible for the outburst, AR2790, rotated into view on December 2nd. At this point in the cycle AR2786 was showing light bridges and decay.
There were several flares throughout CR2238 ranging from A to G1 activity. The flare from AR2790 produced much media attention for possible aurora activity but it fizzled out, producing aurora only in the higher latitudes. 2020-12-14-1551-GlhGrsm-CaK.jpgA new sunspot group on December 12th, AR2792, emerged in the Southern Hemisphere exhibiting Bxo/Beta and producing a C4 class flare.
December 4th, 2020 had a total Solar Eclipse in South America. One of our observers, Guilherme Grassmann from Brazil, obtained an image of the eclipse in Calcium light.
AR2793 emerged on December 15th, but a few days later during December 19-20 the Sun was void of sunspots. That was short lived, however, as new sunspot activity arrived on December 21stin the form of AR2794, followed by AR2795 showing up on Christmas Day. This closed out the Carrington Rotation with stable sunspots and groups with no chance of aurora activity.
Thanks to the contributors who forwarded their sketches and images for inclusion in the ALPO Solar Image Gallery for AR2238:
  • Paul Andrew
  • Anthony Broxton
  • Vlamir da Silva Junior
  • Howard Eskildsen
  • Guilherme Grassmann
  • Monty Leventhal
  • Frank Melillo
  • John O’Neal
  • Theo Ramakers
  • Randy Tatum
  • David Teske
  • Geert Vandenbulcke

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